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One Million Believers Will Attend The Beatification of John Paul II
Posted On 30 Apr 2011
The beatification of Pope John Paul II has caused so much excitement that the number of parishioners who would attend has increased. At first, the Vatican was expecting the arrival of 300,000 people, now one million Catholics are expected to go to Rome to participate in the ceremonies for the beatification, which will last until Monday.
Official delegations from 87 countries will also arrive to the Vatican to attend the ceremony, including presidents, monarchs and high ranking politicians.
Giuseppe Pecoraro, prefect of Rome, said that they had developed a transportation plan. Arrangements have been made so that the Metro starts working since the early hours of tomorrow, private cars will not be allowed to drive on the streets throughout the day of the beatification, especially in the area of access to the Vatican.
A giant image of John Paul II accompanied by banners that together form the phrase: ‘Open the doors to Christ.” was placed in St. Peter’s Square. Another 27 banners were placed on the right side of the colonnade of Bernini, one for each year of the pontificate. In each of the posters is displayed a picture taken in that year and the profile of the medals of the pontificate.
Giant screens where the faithful and tourists can watch a video with the most famous scenes from John Paul II are already installed in St. Peter’s Square and in other Rome squares, such as the Risorgimento, about 300 meters from the Vatican.
The pope’s embalmed remains will not be shown, his casket will be closed, though the Vatican offered to the faithful the chance to venerate the blood that was extracted just before his death and has been preserved in four small containers. Two of these were given to his private secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, and the other two remained in Niño Jesus hospital, where he was treated during his agony. Approaching the beatification, it was decided to place these papal blood containers in two shrines. The first one will be offered to the act of worship in the morning and then stored, along with other important relics in the tabernacle of the Office of Papal Liturgical Celebrations. The second relic will be returned to the nuns at the hospital.
